Safety releasing joint for drill tubes



March 15, 1932 i M. L. VALLENDOR 1,849,339

" SAFETY RELEASING'JOINT FOR bRILL TUBES Filed Dec. 26, 1928 1n 4/1. Mai/V004 Patented Mar. 15, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE m L. VALLENDOR OF VENTURA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO HENRY SOHWAB, ONE-FOURTH TO C. P. SKINNER, AND ONE-FOURTH TO FRED JONES, ALL

am nnLmsme sonar roa' mum. moans Application m December 26, 1928. Serial no. 828,478.

, My invention relates generally to well drilling apparatus and more particularly" to a safety releasing joint for drill tubes, and J the principal objects of my invention are to provide a safety releasing joint that is relatively simple in construction, inexpensive o manufacture, and capable of being readily combined with'a drill\ line, further to provide a joint ofuthe character referred to that may be easily and quickly broken or disconnected by a reverse rotar movement of the drill tube in which the joint is located, and further to provide a safety joint that will enable the drill tube to be broken or disconnected at a predetermined point, for instance, just above the stem, of the dull, fishing tool or other tool or device that is carried by the lower end of the drill tube.

It will be understood that in the drilling of deep wells with rotary rigs the bit or cutting tool is carried by the lower end of the drill tube, and which latter is rptated by suitable power driven means at the top of the well. The hole formed by the drill in the ground is not always straight, due to the vary ing formation of the earth through whlch the drill passes,and under such conditlons the drill tube is subject toconsiderable friction as a result of its contact with the formation at different pointsfin the well hole.

In the event that the drill or other tool at the end of the drill line becomes anchored or stuck at the bottom of the well hole, it

is necessary to disconnect the drill tube from.

the drill or other tool and remove the stuck tool by fishing operations. a

. In order to facilitate the work involved in fishing operations and to insure the breaking of a joint in the drill tube just above the drill or fishing tool used thereon, I propose to provide a safety joint in the lower portion of the drill tube which will insure the breaking or disconnecting of the drill tube at the in-' serted joint and thereby avoid the possibility of breaking a joint in the drill tube at some point in the intermediate or upper portion thereof-when said drill tube is reversely rotated to effect the break or disconnection.

With the foregoing and other objectsin I view. my invention consists'in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts that will hereinafter be more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which 2 Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken lengthwise throughthe center of a safety releasing joint of my improved construction.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the joint member that is connected to the lower end of the drilling tube.

, Fig. 3 is an elevational view partly in sec- 1 tion of a releasing nut or collar thatforms a part of my improved joint. i

Fig. 4 is a sectional View of a portion of the joint and showing a modified form of the packing used therein.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional View showing a modified form of the packing used in my m proved safety releasing joint.

Referring bynumerals to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a practical embodiment of my invention, 10 designates a short cylindrical head within the upper porbox 11 that is adapted to receive the threaded pin that projects from the lower end of the drill tube T, and formedintegral with and depending from the head 10 is'an axially disposed tubular member 12, the same being provided on its external surface with quick acting threads 13, the threads having a relatively steep pitch.

Formed on the upper portion of the tubular body 12 andimmediately beneath the under face of shoulder 14 at the lower end of body 10 is a relatively short taperedcircumferential face 15.

. A sub that receives the externally threaded portion of the tubular member 12 comprises ed pin 18 that is adapted to be screw seated in the upper end of the shank S of a drill, fishing tool or the like.

tion of which is formed a threaded recess or Formed through the pin 18 and the lower the nut engages in the upper end of the sub ortion of the sub 16 is an axially disposed 16 with a le t hand thread, the nut during bore19 that is preferably of the same diam-- this rotary motion will be unscrewed to a eter as the diameter of the bore through the slight degree from the sub and consequently tubular member 12. I moved upward so that the upper flat surface Formed between the upper end of the bore 26 of the nut will bear against the shoulder 19 and the lower end of the threaded cham- 14 on the under face of the head '10 and as the her 17 is a horizontally disposed shoulder 20, parts are tightened the oint friction beand resting thereupon is a'packing ring 21, tween the threaded tube 12 and the sub 16 preferably of rubber, that is engaged. and will be practically eliminated and the friccompressed by the lower end ofthe tubular tion will be transferred tothe engaging faces 7 member 12 when the latter is screwed into the 14 and 26.-

sub' 16. i Thus when it becomes necessary to break Formed inthe upper portion of the sub 16 or disconnect the joint in the drill line, and

is a short chamber22 the diameter of which the latter is reversely rotated or rotated tois slightly greater thanthe diameter of the Ward the left hand, the threaded tubular chamber 17 and the circumferential face of member 12 will, due to lack of joint friction this enlarged chamber 22 is provided with between itsthreads and the threads within quick actin -threads 23 that are reversely the sub 16, readily withdraw from the sub arranged re ative to the threads 13. and thus bring about the break or disconnec- In the standard forms of 'rotary drilling tion at the desired point, rather than at a rigs, or where the drill tube is rotated clockjoint in the intermediate or upper portion of wise the tubular member 12 should be prothedrill tube. v vided with right hand threads and the inner In actual practice the clearance between the face of the chamber 22 should be provided upper and lower face of the nut and the faces with a left hand thread In other words the of the head 10 and upper end of thehub 16 two threads should be op ositely or reversely is very slight. As a matter of fact it is but.

arranged relative to eac other in order to a few thousandths of an inch, so that the robring about the desired results. tary motion imparted to the, nut during the The threaded recess or chamber 22 receives final tightening movement of the tubular the externally. threaded portion 24 of a ring member is comparatively slight and such 'or'collar that is formed integral with and movement only relieves the joint friction bedepends from the underside of a nut 25, the tween the threads 13 and the threads on the diameter of which latter is approximately equal to the diameters of the head 10 and sub The upper face 26 of the body of the nut 25 is made fiatin order that it may bear directly against the under face 14 of the body 10, and formed in the upper portion of the opening through the nut and its ring or collar 24 is a tapered circumferential surface 27 that is adapted to be engaged by the correspondingly tapered face 15 on the upper portion of tubular member 12.

When my improved safety releasing joint is located in a drill line for use the pin 18 on the lower end of the sub 16 is screwed into the upper end of the stem of the drill or fishing tool and the'nut 25 having the left hand thread is screwed into the correspondingly threaded recess the sub. Y

The externally threaded .tubular member 12 is now screwed into the internally threaded chamber within the sub and just before the tubular member 12 reaches the limit of its movement into the sub, the tapered face 15 at the upperendsof the tubular member 12 engages 'the correspondingly tapered face 17 in the upper portion of nut 25, therebyproducing suflicient friction to pick up the nut andcause it to rotate a short distance toward the right hand end of the tubular member 12,

22 in the upper end of inner face of the chamber within the sub.

In Fig. 4 I have illustrated a modified arrangement of packing between the sub and the tubular member 12 that enters said sub, and which arrangement contemplates the location of a suitable packing ring 28 inv a circular groove 29, the latter being formed in the upper face of the sub.

. In Fig. 5 I have shown the under face of I "the body portion of nut 25 and'the upper face of the sub 16 around the chamber 22 cut away so as to form between them achamber that is V or dove-tail in shape in cross section and when the parts are assembled a packing ring 30. of corresponding shape is positioned in this chamber so as to produce a fluid pressure tight joint. I I

While I have shown and described the tubular member 12 as being provided with right hand threads and the ring or collar 24 on the nut with a left hand thread, it is ob-. vious that this arrangement may be reversed, and where such reverse arrangement is employed rotary motion of the drill line toward the left hand or anti-clockwise will screw the tubular member 12 into the sub and at the .end of such operation the nut will be picked up and slightly unscrewed so as to engage the under face of the body 10 and eliminate the joint friction between the externally threaded tubular member and the sub in which'it is 55 and as the ring or collar 24 that depends from screw seated.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a safety releasing joint for the drill tubes of deep well drilling rigs, and which joint may be advantageously employed during drilling operations, and particularly for dlsconnecting the lower end of the drillingline from the shank of the drill or fishing toolthat is connected to thelower end of said line.

Itv will be understood that minorchanges in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved safety releasing joint for drill tubes may be made and substi tuted for those herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention: I

1. In a safety releasing joint for drill tubes, an externally threaded member, a'sub and'nut being reverselyarranged, andmeans for rendering said joint leak-proof when assembled for use. I

5. In a safety releasing joint for drill tubes, a sub, a tubular member having threaded en agement with said sub and having a cone s aped engaging shoulder, a nut having a cone s aped engaging surface adapted to have frictional engagement with the cone shaped shoulder of said tubular member and havmg threaded engagement with said sub, the threads on said nut and said tubular member being reversely arranged whereby said nut is unscrewed from said sub and moved into frictional engagement with said tubular member "as the latter is screwed into said sub.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

' MAX L. VALLENDOR.

having an internal thread adapted to receive 'the external thread of said member, a. nut

screw seated within the upperportion of said sub, the threads between said nut and sub and between said sub and said member being op ositely arranged, and said nut being provi ed with a face thatkis adapted to frictionally engage a face on the externally threaded member when the same is screwed into said sub.

2. In a safetyreleasing joint for drill tubes, an internally threaded sub, an externally threaded member adapted to be Screwed into'said sub, a. nut adapted to be screwed into said sub, the thread on which sub is reversely arranged with respect to the thread between said sub andthreaded memher, and cooperating faces on said nut and the-member that is screwed into said sub for i producing friction between said parts when said member is screwed into the sub.

3. In a safety releasing joint for drilling tubes, an externally threaded member, an internally threaded sub adapted to receive said externally threaded member, a nut; screw seated in the upper portion of said sub, the threaded portion between said nut and sub and between said sub and externally threaded member being oppositely arranged, said nut and externally threaded member having cooperating faces that frictionally engage each other when the externally threaded member-is screwed into the sub, and a packing member arranged between the inserted end of said threaded member and said sub.

4. In a safety releasing joint for drill tubes, an internally threaded sub, an exter- 1 nally threaded tubular member adapted" to be screwed into said sub, a nut screw seated' in said sub, cooperating conical faces on said nut and said externally threaded member which conical cooperating faces frictionallyengage so as to cause the nut to rotate with said member as the latter is screwed to the limit of its movement into said sub, the threads on the externally threaded member 

